ABSTRACT
Objectives The current work seeks to explore the knowledge, perceptions and attitudes towards the concept of pharmacoeconomics fundamental propositions and evaluation methodologies, among pharmacists and other healthcare providers in the UAE as the health expenditure is increasing. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted amongst the licensed physicians in all specialties, all pharmacists and other healthcare professionals with a minimum of three months of experience those registered with the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) and those working in the private sector in the UAE. Participants are sent an email containing a validated web-based electronic link to access the questionnaire. The questionnaire composed of three sections is used to assess the healthcare professionals' knowledge, attitude and perceptions regarding the concept, principles and methodology evaluation of pharmacoeconomics. Regression analysis was used to identify the factors affecting healthcare providers' knowledge and attitude regarding the criteria used in methodology evaluation of pharmacoeconomics. Key findings A total of 866 respondents participated. The average age of respondents was 42.1 +/- 8.8 SD. The average knowledge score on the principle of pharmacoeconomic was 40.4% with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of [38.9%, 41.8%]. Of the total participants, 663 (76.6%) had poor knowledge on the principle of Pharmacoeconomic, 172 (19.9%) had moderate knowledge and only 31 (3.6%) had good knowledge. The average attitude score about criteria used in pharmacoeconomic methodology evaluation was 82.3% with a 95% CI of [81.9%, 83.7%]. Conclusions There is a need to raise their awareness on pharmacoeconomics fundamentals and evaluation methodologies by including pharmacoeconomics course in curriculum and continuous workshops and training.
ABSTRACT
At the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Pharmacoinformatics is a second-year undergraduate Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Sciences course designed to introduce students on how to use technology to improve pharmaceutical care services. Until the outbreak of COVID-19, teaching, learning, and assessments for this course were predominantly conducted face-to-face. The unannounced arrival of the pandemic with its unprecedented uncertainties meant a drastic change in programme delivery was necessary. Social distancing and movement control orders were imposed to control the transmission of COVID-19 and hence a complete shift to online learning was required. All available tools were therefore deployed to make the transition a successful experience for both students and lecturers. The advantage of the new learning approach was that both synchronous and asynchronous learning experiences were explored. The group assignments were mostly synchronous using video conferencing applications. However, student assessments by the lecturers were predominantly asynchronous. Copyright © 2020, International Pharmaceutical Federation. All rights reserved.